The Villainess VTuber Rips People Apart-Chapter 92: Emergency Food
It seemed that the place we woke up in was a hospital.
For starters, we cleared out all the zombies in the hospital.
“《This location will remain safe for 49:28:24.》”
The smart watch displayed a safe time. It looks like safe zones create a countdown timer once they’re secured.
For now, we're safe, but it’s clear we can’t stay here forever.
“Since it looks like none of you understand this game, I’ll explain.”
Rion glanced around at us before speaking.
“This game is a little unusual. Even if you log out, your avatar stays in the game.”
“What does that mean? If you log out and get attacked by zombies, what happens...?”
“When you log back in, you’d probably be a zombie.”
That was Rion’s answer to Sora’s question.
If you turn into a zombie, you completely lose control of your avatar. It becomes a literal prison for your body, controlled by AI.
-“This game is brutal.” -“Is it a roguelike?” -“In a dev interview, they mentioned roguelite elements.” -“Wow, sounds fun!”
“Is there a way to turn back into a human from a zombie?”
“I know this one! I found the info in the archives earlier!”
Ainatsu yelled out excitedly.
“After getting bitten, you’ll have a rash within an hour, lose sanity within three hours, and become aggressive within five hours! And after 24 hours, the vaccine won’t work anymore!”
“Then after 24 hours, does that mean you can’t play anymore?”
“I heard there’s a way to keep playing with a cloned avatar, sis.”
To summarize Ainatsu and Rion’s explanation:
Logging out isn’t easy. If you log out somewhere unsafe, you might log back in as a zombie.
If you turn into a zombie and over 24 hours of in-game time pass, you have to give up on that body.
You can keep playing with a cloned avatar, but this technology only unlocks later on.
If our entire party of four gets wiped before that, we can’t play on this server anymore.
“It seems like the goal here is simply survival.”
When I adjusted the smart watch, a “survival timer” appeared on the screen. It seems like the kind of game where someone might post in a gallery, bragging, “[General] Survived Hard Mode for 1,000 hours, lol.”
In short, it’s a difficult game. One hell of a hard game.
“So let’s start by finding a ‘safe logout spot’ first.”
“In that case, we should head to the central control room!”
Ainatsu shouted. Why does she seem so competent all of a sudden? Did she eat something strange?
Maybe we should leave clue-finding and information gathering to Ainatsu. They say you can find a use for even the most useless things. Ainatsu seems unexpectedly versatile. Perhaps she could get a reduced sentence from the Duke’s family.
Anyway, following Ainatsu’s suggestion, we made our way to the central control room, where a giant map appeared on the computer screen.
“《The world has been destroyed by an unknown virus.》” “《Go to Sz-001 to find the cause and solution.》”
The screen marked “Sz-001.” Could the voice I’ve been hearing in my head belong to the AI managing this hospital?
And where is Sz-001 located?
Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.
-“Africa?” -“Looks like Nigeria.” -“Wtf, Africa???” -“How are we supposed to get there?”
It was smack in the middle of Africa.
And, as you’d expect, our location is in Korea.
“So is Sz-001 the ultimate goal of this game?”
“Probably...”
“But how are we supposed to get to Africa? Are there any planes?”
“Not sure... Oh, and the game scale is the same as Earth’s, sis.”
“Huh.”
It’s an apocalyptic world. Maybe we can find a car, but getting to Africa seems a bit too much.
If we can’t use planes or boats, we’ll likely have to make our way to Sz-001 on foot or by car, bit by bit.
It’ll probably take years in-game, all while trying to avoid zombies in the streets. If clone technology is available, we’ll likely switch between clones, aiming to reach the final destination.
And if we mess up and get wiped, we start over in a new world (though it has roguelite elements), which makes it one hell of a hard game.
“This is one hell of a game...”
Sora muttered in disbelief.
Rion fiddled with her smart watch.
A hologram appeared in front of us. She downloaded the central control room map to her smart watch.
There were several marked “shelters” on the map, highlighted in green.
“Are we really supposed to go outside?”
Sora’s voice trembled with fear.
“But there are so many zombies out there... Can we really do this?”
“We don’t have a choice. In 50 hours, the zombies in the basement will wake up.”
“I know, but... all we have is a knife and a gun... Isn’t that too dangerous?”
After thoroughly searching the hospital, we only found bandages, a flashlight, and some medicine.
We only have one knife and one gun. The gun has eight bullets, and the shelter is too far away.
It’s impossible to reach it within a day.
“Then here’s the plan. Rion, you take the gun.”
“...Why are you giving this to me?”
“Are you just going to stand there when zombies approach? If you want to turn into one, I won’t stop you.”
“That’s not what I meant... What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Let’s go for a quick trip outside, just the two of us.”
“Damn it.”
Rion cursed without thinking, probably because we were live-streaming.
“Why me and you?”
“We’re going to get a car. It’s too risky for the four of us to just walk around like we’re on a casual stroll.”
“Can’t you go alone?”
“And who’s going to drive?”
Laura tilted her head in confusion.
Rion glanced at Ainatsu and Sora just in case.
“Waaah... Ainatsu’s a baby... Baby don’t know how to drive... Goo goo gaa gaa...”
“I’m a bard! Bards roam from village to village on foot! Yup, I don’t need a driver’s license.”
These two...
They suddenly started role-playing.
Reluctantly, Rion, the head maid (and sometimes chauffeur), had to follow behind Laura.
“Alright, find a car that starts.”
Laura twirled the knife skillfully. She could easily be mistaken for an assassin rather than a noble lady.
So here’s how it went:
Loot car keys from the corpses of zombies killed in the hospital. (Ainatsu and Sora stayed behind to guard while searching zombie corpses.)
Laura moves to the hospital parking lot and takes down any zombies in sight.
While Laura draws aggro, Rion finds a car that matches the key.
If the car starts, great. If not, move on to another.
If there are no matching keys, expand the search area outside the hospital.
“Please work... Please work...”
Rion prayed as she turned the ignition.
Click.
Battery dead.
“Oh, come on!”
Rion banged on the steering wheel.
Something stuck to the window.
“Urghhh...”
“Ah!”
A zombie started banging on the glass.
Rion quickly grabbed the gun.
Should I shoot...? But there are only eight bullets... Does shooting make sense if the glass isn’t broken? But what if it breaks in before I do anything...?
Her hand shook as she tightly gripped the gun.
Of course, while she was hesitating, Laura reached over and threw the zombie aside.
“It draws more aggro than I thought.”
Laura muttered, a little annoyed. A zombie approached her from behind.
It was as if she had eyes on the back of her head. She turned and kicked the zombie’s head clean off.
Ignoring the fallen zombie, she charged at another one.
Dodging its decayed hands, she plunged the knife under its chin and pushed it deeper.
With a flick, she split its neck open, and, showing no further interest, shoved the body aside.
One zombie, once already dead, was now dead in the truest sense.
As more zombies closed in, Laura reached for the nearest one.
She tricked it with a feint, grabbed its hand, and swung it like a bat.
Several zombies hit the ground. She punched a zombie on the left in the face and stabbed the one on the right in the nape.
With the flesh rotted away, the knife easily went in.
“...Why is she so good at this?”
Rion muttered without thinking.
-“Idk.” -“If you don’t know, how would we?” -“Was she a special forces noble lady?” -“How is that a noble lady?” -“Guess the rumors about her military background were true.”
Even as viewers commented, nothing eased Rion’s confusion.
Something seemed off... Her parents were ordinary company workers, yet she gave off this rich girl vibe, fought like a professional martial artist...
She’s always been good at games, so her skills in Labyrinthos were understandable. But slashing through zombies with just a knife? That’s beyond reason.
“It’s clear, come on out.”
Of course, just because something is inexplicable doesn’t mean she’ll bother to explain.
That’s how villainesses are.
“Aren’t you coming? If you dawdle, more zombies will gather. Do you have a thing for getting surrounded by zombies? Should I start singing?”
“...Fine, I’m coming. Just stop rushing me... Jeez...”
Rion stepped out of the car.
Yeah. Understanding it won’t change anything.
Just like how you don’t need to understand why stars shine, perhaps Laura is one of those things.
For now, that’s how I decided to see it.
“Let’s roast some zombie meat.”
I must have been mistaken.
It seems some things should not be left unexplained.
“...What did you just say?”
“I said, let’s chop up a zombie and eat it.”
“No, it’s not what you said, but... What?!”
Rion asked again.
After escaping with a car that somehow started, 30 minutes later, the gang arrived at a small neighborhood market.
“The food’s all spoiled, and even the canned goods are in poor condition. It’s inevitable we’ll run into food shortages.”
Laura shook her smart watch.
It displayed a “Hunger Gauge.” A standard element in survival games.
“I mean, still... eating zombies... That’s just...”
“Oh, Rion. You must be confused.”
Laura smiled sweetly.
“You only get to be picky when there’s food available. We have nothing right now.”
“That may be, but...”
“If you don’t want to eat zombies, there is a last resort.”
“Last resort?”
Laura nodded.
“One of us becomes the emergency ration. I’m taking volunteers. Decide before I start chopping.”
“...”
Rion fell silent.
-“Zombie BBQ lol” -“Thought she was sane, turns out she’s the emergency ration...” -“Found the chef I was looking for.”
【so_ra_sama_no_1_servant donated 1,000 KRW】 【Come down for a moment, Sora!】
【Chained_Pig_Man donated 1,000 KRW】 【So this is what Rion tastes like...】
【321GO_SHOOT donated 1,000 KRW】 【The taste is surprisingly stable.】
It was better to eat than to be eaten. Rion managed to avoid death.
